Punchers fly out of the gate at seasonís first meet

Jace Marx continues to be one of the best sprinters in the state, posting times near his personal best in the first meet of the outdoor season. Ryan Hermens photo

BIG PINEY Ė The seasonís first track and field meet as a typical cold and blustery March day in Big Piney last Friday, but the athletes were happy to be outdoors competing after being cooped up indoors all winter. Returning Big Piney High School athletes were additionally pleased by the mere fact they got a home meet. Many years, the only competition on Puncher territory is cancelled Ė thatís the risk you run being one of the seasonís first scheduled meets.

After years of relying heavily on runners for team points, the Punchers have added more breadth to the squad with some younger athletes focusing on the jumping events. The boys are still excelling at the short-distance sprints, but the girls are seeing a number of high marks in the field events.

Junior Jace Marx once again showed his domination in the sprints, taking first place in the 100- and 200-meter races, winning by almost two full seconds in the latter. His 100 time of 11.18 seconds is near his personal best of 10.96 and earned him an automatic spot at the state meet in May. His 200 time is only 0.14 seconds off his State time last year of 22.43 seconds. He has consistently dropped time each season and could easily defend his 2A championship title in both events this year.

Senior Garrett Formo has put his speed into the hurdles events, and in his first 110-meter race, he has already undercut his previous personal record by more than a second. He did the same with the 300 distance, taking first place in both events Friday. This is only his second year competing in the longer race, but Formo has spent the past three seasons diligently working to cut significant time from his hurdles. So far, heís been remarkably successful, slashing nearly six seconds from his first meet as a freshman in an event where times are more often measured in tenths of a second rather than full seconds.